Sunday, April 20, 2014

Levy Brothers – part 2

Out of the four Levy brothers (my grandfather, Sig Levy, and his brothers), only three had children and only one, Sig, had only boys.  So to continue with the Levy brothers theme, meet my dad, Gordon (1927-2005), and his brother, Robert Levy (1920-2004)

Here’s one of the first photos of the boys together.  Since my dad was born in February, 1927 I’m guessing this is late that year.  I don’t know for sure (maybe a cousin can help me out here) but I think that might be their house at 1212 Van Ness, Fresno.  Dad doesn’t look too happy.

c 1927

He seemed a little happier, and steadier on his feet, by May, 1928.  Looks like the boys were ready to swim!

13May1928

Later that year, the boys posed with their mother, Loraine.  I just love her hat!

w Loraine 3Sep1928

Dad turned 2 on February 11, 1929 and again the boys posed for a photo.  How cute are they in their little coats and hats?  Looks like Dad got a fun little riding toy for his birthday.  One look at this photo and there’s no doubt I’m a Levy.

11Feb1929

And five years later, they celebrated Dad’s birthday again together – the hats and coats are gone.  Love the slicked back hair, Rob!

11Feb1934

By 1943 Rob was off to serve his country but had to pose for a few photos first.  Look at them shaking hands – something, it seems, that my family did a lot.

15Jul1943
July 15, 1943

12Mar1944
March 12, 1944

And in December, 1947 the whole family posed together.  This tells a lot about my grandfather – Dad was about 5-9” and he towers over Sig. 

w Sig_Loraine Dec1947

Fast forward about 20 years and the boys were still posing together. 

My beautiful picture
Rob and Gordon
c. 1962

Dad and Rob never lived near each other as adults but even with the miles and years between them they always remained close.  We loved when “Uncle Bobo” came to town and we always laughed at his jokes, no matter how corny (and most of the time they were corny). 

I’m going to guess this photo is from the 1970’s or early 1980’s – check out the glasses!

My beautiful picture

Uncle Rob and Aunt Pat came to visit us here in Washington in 1997 – of course we couldn’t keep Dad away.  These brothers loved each other and they loved to keep their cameras close by at all times.  Since they were usually the photographers, it was hard to get them to pose together but we were able to get them to stand still in front of Snoqualmie Falls.

1997

While I know they saw each other many more times in their lives, this might have been the last time I saw them together. 

But in early 1998, I had the pleasure of visiting Rob and Pat at their home in Louisville, Kentucky so I filled in for Dad with the photo opportunity!

Rob_Debi 1998

I’m so glad these Levy brothers broke the mold and never let each other out of their lives! 

4 comments:

  1. I love the series of photos - thanks for sharing.

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  2. These are great. It's wonderful they were so close, especially since the older Levy brothers had a parting of the ways. (As for those 1980s glasses, we call them "Birth Control Glasses.")

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    1. I'm not sure I want to hear the story about "Birth Control Glasses".

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